The Mississippi State baseball team took on one of the toughest college baseball teams in the country and really gave the Florida Gators a legitimate challenge in Gainesville. It’s fair to say that Chris Lemonis and the Bulldogs battled tooth and nail against the sixth-ranked Florida Gators.
Despite the fact that State lost this series on the road, MSU managed to outscore the Gators in Gainesville.
It was a weird and frustrating series.
Table of contents
Let’s start looking at what happened to the Bulldogs this past weekend.
Miss. State baseball weekend recap: Lemonis, Bulldogs come up short in Gainesville
Mississippi State dropped the series opener in heartbreaking fashion, losing 7-6 in a frustrating game. MSU then stormed back to even the series with a dominant 12-2 win in game 2 but then lost once more in an infuriating 4-3 game 3 loss on a walk-off home run.
Despite the series loss, there were some bright spots for the Mississippi State baseball team. There were also some low points. Let’s look more in depth at what happened before we jump into highlights and low points though.
Game 1: Mississippi State 6 – Florida 7
Let’s mention it once more. Chris Lemonis and his Mississippi State baseball team suffered a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to No. 6 Florida in the series opener. And that’s in spite of the fact that the Bulldogs were holding a 6-2 lead heading into the eighth inning. Miss. State somehow, some way couldn’t hold on to that win as the Gators scored five runs across the final two frames to get the win over MSU.
| Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| Florida | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 1 |
Game 2: Mississippi State 12 – Florida 2
And the Bulldogs bounced back in spectacular fashion. In an emphatic win, the Miss. State baseball team routed the #6 Florida Gators, winning 12-2 to even the series in Gainesville on Saturday. The Bulldogs exploded for five home runs with Dakota Jordan and Connor Hujsak leading the charge with two home runs apiece. Jurrangelo Cijntje earned the win with a dominant seven-inning performance and things seemed great after game 2.
| Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 0 |
| Florida | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
Game 3 – Mississippi State 3 – Florida 4
And then, would you look at that, another disappointing loss on the weekend. It’s tough to win in the SEC, clearly, and it’s tough to win on the road in the SEC. I, for one, wish it weren’t quite this tough.
The Mississippi State baseball team suffered a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss to #6 Florida in the series finale. Despite taking a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning, the Bulldogs couldn’t hold on to claim the series win. The Gators cut into the deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning and then pushed ahead in the bottom of the ninth inning thanks to Jac Caglianone, who ended the game with a towering and terrifying two-run walk-off homer.
| Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Florida | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
High notes and Mississippi State baseball highlights from series vs. Florida Gators
There were numerous highlights to choose from for this series. Unsurprisingly, most of them happened to come from game 2, though. Like this fun home run. Game 2. Game 2 was good.
You don’t want to watch just home runs? That’s fine by me. Let’s watch a game 2 double play. That’s fun. Game 2 was fun.
BUT HOW ABOUT YOU WATCH ANOTHER HOME RUN FOR A MOMENT, PLEASE?! HOW DOES THAT SOUND. LET’S ENJOY (this particular) IMPRESSIVE HOME RUN.
GAME 2 WAS FUN HAVE I MENTIONED THAT YET.
Low moments from the Miss. State baseball series vs. Florida
Goodness. There’s a couple. And they happened in the losses. Giving up three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning in game 1? That’s not good. That’s not good by any stretch of the imagination.
But also, giving up a total of five runs between the eighth and ninth innings? That’s exceptionally bad.
Just a complete and total collapse on the part of the MSU baseball team that brings me back to the disastrous eighth inning nightmares that we got to witness back in like 2015 or whatever it was.
Final Thoughts on Mississippi State baseball’s series loss to Florida
We saw the MSU Bulldogs show some impressive potential in this one. They really looked good for *GESTURES WILDLY* 90 PERCENT OF THIS SERIES. But a couple of innings really set the Bulldogs back in ways that I wish they hadn’t been set back.
State has to find a way to close out games. This team has talent. It’s a pretty good team. But choking late like that?
That’s going to limit just how far this team can make it and it’ll continue to get Chris Lemonis heat from fans.
The Underdog Tribune 
Leave a Reply